Paul Pugh
Daniel James Eberhad Pugh''' (born June 14, 1979) is a British professional wrester contracted to Online Championship Wrestling(As Paul Pugh), where he is the current OCW World Heavyweight Champion. He has appeared around the World with promotions including, Osaka All Pro Wrestling, OWL, Mexi-Pro Wrestling and Xerox. Early Years Pugh was born in the Withington area of Manchester, England to an Irish immigrant family. As Pugh grew up, he fell in love with Professional Wrestling through his grandmother who would show him taped episodes of "World of Sport". From an early age, Pugh knew he wanted to be a Professional Wrestler, so at the age of 17 took himself to renowned Luchadore school LuchaLondon - over 300 miles from home. Here Pugh started his journey to his ultimate goal. Career '''Early Training Once he began training with LuchaLondon, Pugh became fascinated with the Luchadore style, and quickly set about learning Spanish, realising that if he knew the language, potential opportunities would be available to him. Pugh trained at LuchaLondon until he was picked up at the age of 19 by Mexi-Pro Wrestling, a seasonal touring Mexican promotion who ran shows around Spain. While here, Pugh became "The Blue Moon Kid", a persona that he thought up while watching a soccer game involving his local team Manchester City. As The Blue Moon Kid quickly gathered steam and eventually joined Mexi-Pro Wrestling full time on their Mexican, European and Japanese tours. Over the next few years, he conitnued with Mexi-Pro until he was introduced to Japanese upstarts Hideto Matsuda and Ryu Matsumoto in a chance meeting at an wrestling show in Osaka, Japan, and it was these two who helped get him his start in Osaka All Pro Wrestling, run by the uncle of Matsuda. Osaka All Pro Wrestling (2003-2006) Upon entering OAPW, Pugh continued under the Blue Moon Kid persona as a fan favorite character, enjoying feuds with several of the company's top Light Heavyweight Wrestlers. In 2004, he was chosen to blood the debuting Hideto Matsuda who was fresh out of training, and over the initial six months of Matsuda's professional career their paths would cross time and again culminating in a final showdown match between the Blue Moon Kid and Matsuda at the Osaka Convention Complex in early 2005 - a hair versus mask match which Pugh ultimately lost and was forced to relinquish his mask. Gabe Seltzer rated this match five stars, saying "Had this been in the Tokyo Dome - six stars". Matsuda soon left the company, and Mr James T Pugh (as he was now known) continued working as a highly rated gaijin wrestler, eventually winning the Super Junior Grand Prix in summer of 2006. Soon after, he requested his release from the company, as he wanted to try his hand in a different market. American Tours (2006-2007) Pugh arrived in the United States in late 2006 and set about trying to make a name for himself on the indys. After a handful of well received matches across the indies, he signed an exclusive deal with an upstart company who claimed to have a large financial backing. Pugh wrestled in this federation as "JD Cage" until he fell out with the management of the company, resulting in Pugh being released from his contract with a 90 day no compete clause, which he then went on to break - causing the company to take legal action against him, and blocking the use of his character in any potential new bookings. Cyber Championship Wrestling (2007) Pugh reported to CCW in August 2007 and claimed to OCW management that he was free to work for them immediately. They assigned Pugh a new name "Paul Pugh" (BradBAUER claiming that "alliteration gets you over") and he began work, appearing on houseshows under both the CCW and OCW banners. Soon after, CCW was absorbed by OCW and Pugh became an official member of the Online Championship Wrestling roster. Online Championship Wrestling (2007-2010) As part of the new talent directive, a 28 year old Pugh arrived as part of the tag team "Xtreme Xpress" with Southern Championship Wrestling's star JJ. They made their official OCW debut at Summercide 2007, coming out to the ring during a tag team title match and making their presence known as the next big tag team. A week later however, JJ asked for his release as he felt he was still an "SCW guy", but Pugh refused to leave, stating at the time that "OCW was the big league" of Professional Wrestling. Pugh was then given a live mic on an episode of Asylum and asked to air his grievances about JJ's apparent betrayal. Not only did Pugh seize the opportunity to run down his former partner, but went as far as saying that when his previous employers went out of business, it would be because of Pugh. Pugh spent the next few months working the houseshow circuit and occassionally appearing on shows, notably feuding with fellow rookie Smythe DaWonder who he faced at September 2 Remember 2007 in both men's in-ring PPV debut. Pugh lost this match however and spent the next few months fading in and out of television storylines/matches. In 2008, Pugh negotiated a contract that allowed him to perform on the indy circuit while he wasn't being used in OCW, and briefly returned to Mexi-Pro wrestling as the Blue Moon Kid against fellow Briton Dan Syndrome (Who later joined him as a partner in OCW). Around this time, Pugh was storyline married to a tiger called Mittens El Tigre and briefly changed his name to Paul Pugh-El Tigre and began performing at houseshows (jobbing to established stars) under a tiger themed mask. Throughout his early OCW he crossed paths in the ring with stars of the day including Nick Kage, The Steve and Versus, always in losing efforts. He also faced Parker Stevens for the Hardcore Championship in this year, where he was set on fire and subsequently lost the match. After years of fading in and out of OCW, Pugh returned at the back end of 2009 with a renewed push, claiming to be "Mr. Ex" and the savior of the Ex Division. This continued on and off until Wrestlution Five, where Pugh was victorious in a Battle Royal pre-show match which was exclusively for the live crowd. In 2010, Pugh was asked to appear on the return of OCW Ambition and was subsequently offered a new contract. Pugh however felt that he was worth more than the contract was offering him and declined - his final appearance was on the re-debut of Ambition where he defeated Royce Bentley. Since his contract had expired however, he decided to return to Japan and see if his American TV experience would get him a shot. Osaka Wrestling League (2011) Debuting at the Osaka Wrestling League's premiere show as fellow Gaijin Bill Pine's tag team partner, Pugh began performing under the name "Ego" and spent much of 2011 feuding with the top Junior Heavyweights in Japan. It was here he toured with fellow OCW Alumni Mugen, building a close friendship with the Japanese heavyweight and the two of them faced the Suplex Kids at OWL's summer spectacular for the Extreme Suplex Crown. By October 2011, Pugh was in contention for the OWL Junior Heavyweight Championship of the World, becoming the top Gaijin for a time - he eventually won the title from Hiro Nakanoma. OWL by this time was in financial trouble however, and hadn't been able to pay it's talent in the back end of the year. Since Pugh was only on a short term deal, he knew that he'd have to have a contingency plan, so called rising OCW star Matsuda and attempted to get OCW staff to take a look at him. Jaysin Sensation finally contacted Pugh and offered him the chance to come back to the United States on a full time schedule. OWL's management requested that Pugh return the title belt to Nakanoma on the show and forgo the final match of their feud. Both Nakanoma and Pugh refused managements request as it had already been heavily advertised, and they didn't want to let paying customers down. The plan was for Pugh to retain the title and finish his commitments to the company through December (and its ultimate demise). Pugh however, feeling that he owed the company nothing given that they hadn't paid him for nearly six months, went off script at the end of the match. After retaining the title via submission on a Texas Cloverleaf, Pugh took a live microphone and denounced the company and the fans in Japan - sensing an opportunity to cause some buzz for his OCW debut. Pugh then threw the title belt on the ground, refused to shake hands with his opponent and eventually left Osaka for New York City that evening. News of Pugh's actions soon spread around the internet and fan shot video of the event leaked, causing much embarassment to the OWL. Pugh has been quoted since as saying it was the "worst decision of his career" to go back to Japan when he knew about the financial issues in OWL. Online Championship Wrestling (2011-Present) Pugh's return to OCW had exactly the effect that Pugh and OCW's creative team desired and he soon set about tearing up the Ex Division, ultimately getting his title match against David Jackson. Jackson retained, but Pugh came out of this match on the ascension eventually facing old friend/foe Matsuda at Wrestlution Seven in Pugh's official Wrestlution debut (and for the now defunct OWL JHW Championship) in a match Matsuda won, but several critics called the Match of the Night. Pugh continued to impress on OCW TV with several high profile matches leading up to Summercide where, six years after his debut, he competed in the Future Investment ladder match. The following Riot, Pugh faced KD'Angelo for the Hardcore Championship and won the title after a German Suplex through a ladder caused KD an injury. Pugh would defend this title against several people leading to a Champion vs Champion match against Dimsmore (Who Pugh had been feuding with) where Pugh won the International Champion - refering to himself as the International Hardcore Champion for the next few weeks until losing the International Title to Tyro Kraven. During this time Pugh was a member of "TEAM OCW", a team of the top babyfaces in OCW who opposed the Matsuda led "LOTUS". This angle culminated in the first ever OCW Chamber match - a match Pugh was excluded from as he lost his qualifying match to Tyro Kraven. After the Chamber settled down, Pugh continued defending the Hardcore Championship into the new year before embarking on a feud with Tiberius Dupree. During this time, Tiberius Dupree injured Pugh's knee, resulting in Pugh spending several weeks on the sidelines as Tiberius Dupree claimed to be the record breaking Hardcore Champion (Pugh had held the title longer than anybody in OCW history by this point). The first meeting of these two was in a match at Wrestlution Eight which was contested for the Hardcore Championship - Pugh coming out on top after a brutal Hardcore match. The feud continued as Pugh joined with Parker Stevens to form "The Insiders" and went on to give us three more matches including the "Ultimate Submission" Match between Pugh and Tiberius Dupree, a Fatal Four Way match where Pugh faced Parker, Dimsmore and Dupree (Dupree coming out on top after pinning his own OMG mate Dimsmore) and finally a World Championship one on one match between Tiberius Dupree and Paul Pugh on Riot 350. During this match, Tiberius Dupree, frustrated Pugh wouldn't stay down, attempted to bring a steel chair into proceedings - only to have OCW Hall of Famer Nate Ortiz intervene and save the match, switching the momentum and causing Paul Pugh to become OCW World Heavyweight Champion. Soon after this match, Mugen (who had returned to OCW and was being led by manager Ari Brookstone) challenge Pugh to a title defence, which Pugh graciously accepted - defeating Mugen and moving onto a feud with a mystery opponent. The mystery opponent turned out to be Patolomai, the two fighting to a no contest at Summercide as the ring collapsed during the match, knocking both men out old and causing Pugh to retain the World Title. Business Interests Pugh is a noted investor in several businesses in and out of OCW. Pugh has a 33% stake in EgoFire - an event production company which supplies the production for OCW TV and PPVs, a 50% stake in #realheel (a wrestling based clothing line) and a 10% share of ghetto workout system OG Yoga. In Wrestling Signature moves *'Jumping Screaming DDT - '''Leaping DDT *'Hey Kid Elbow - Jumping Elbow Drop *'Rude Awakening - '''Neckbreaker with hip twist ''(Adopted from Rick Rude) *'BRAINBUSTAAAAHHH - '''Brainbuster ''(as Blue Moon Kid) *'Egoplata Facelock - '''Lebell Lock/ Arm trap crossface variation *'Egobomb - 'Spinning Powerbomb *'Flying Elbow Drop - Top Rope Elbow Drop (Adopted from Parker Stevens) Finishing moves *'Pughdegree '- Pedigree *'Perfect Plex - '''Fisherman's Suplex (''Often refered to as a "Fisherman's Pughplex") *'Blue Moon Risen - '''Superkick ''(As Blue Moon Kid) *'Lights Out' '- '''Killswitch (''Blue Moon Kid) Championships and accomplishments in OCW *1x OCW World Heavyweight Champion *1x OCW International Champion *1x OCW Hardcore Champion (Longest Reigning in History- 300 days, second most defences in history with 14 defences.) *1x Match of the Year (2012-13) vs Leonheart in King of OCW. Category:Wrestlers